Lillian Langdon

In this instance at least, What Every Girl Should Know doesn't come in a plain brown wrapper. Patsy Ruth Miller stars as 17-year-old Mary Sullivan, who is shipped off to an orphanage with her kid brother Bobby (Mickey McBan) when their older brother-guardian Dave (Carroll Nye) is framed on a bootlegging charge. Mary and Bobby are rescued by wealthy Arthur Graham (Ian Keith), who serves on the orphanage's board of directors. He adopts the two "kids," only to run into interference from his snobbish aunt (Lillian Langdon). Undaunted, Mary wins the hearts of Graham's society friends by developing into an expert tennis player. Graham is so impressed by Mary's prowess on the tennis court that he arranges for the release of her brother Dave -- and, incidentally, proposes marriage to the heroine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Marcin Asher plays Henry "Pushcart" Wilson, who has parlayed his tiny streetcorner operation into a thriving business concern. Hobnobbing with the 400, the widowed Henry falls in love with beautiful but treacherous divorcee Mona Vincent (Hedda Hopper). Meanwhile, Henry's daughter Mary (Helene Chadwick) gets stuck on handsome socialite Frank Clayton (Jack Mulhall), whom the predatory Mona would like to get into the sack. Mona takes Mary aside and promises to dump Henry if Mary will do the same with Frank. Upset by all this, Mary tries to kill herself, whereupon both her father and her sweetheart rush to her rescue, leaving Mona out in the cold. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

On a voyage from India to London, it is rumored that an infamous cracksman is onboard -- of course, it is Raffles (House Peters), who is accompanied by his friend, Bunny Manners (Freeman Wood). Raffles warns one of his fellow passengers to keep an eye on her necklace, which promptly disappears. Although a search reveals no evidence, the necklace is returned in a pack of cigarettes upon arrival in London. Lord and Lady Amersteth (Winter Hall and Kate Lester) are having a house party and Raffles attends. Captain Bedford, a noted criminologist (Fred Esmelton), is also one of the guests and he asserts that a very valuable string of pearls cannot be stolen. This only encourages Raffles, who takes it. He also steals the heart of his hosts' daughter, Gwendolyn (Miss Du Pont). Although Bedford finally captures Raffles, he escapes with Gwendolyn's help and they run off together. Raffles returns the pearls and resolves to start a new and more honest life. E.W. Hornung's celebrated novel about a gentleman thief was filmed several times. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Silent screen idol Rudolph Valentino made his next-to-last screen appearance in this romantic comedy/drama. Count Rodrigo Torriani (Valentino) is a notorious ladies' man who has become the subject of a long list of breach-of-promise suits filed by disappointed former girlfriends, which has left him destitute. Needing to learn a new trade, Rodrigo comes to the U.S., where his knowledge of Italian artifacts is put to good use by Jack Dorning (Casson Ferguson), an antique dealer. While Rodrigo's new trade would presumably put him back on the straight and narrow, such is not the case, as he finds himself the object of two different women's affections -- Mary (Gertrude Olmstead), Jack's secretary, and Elise (Nita Naldi), a wealthy socialite. Cobra reunited Valentino with Nita Naldi, who had starred with him in Blood and Sand and A Sainted Devil; within a year of Cobra's release, Valentino would die unexpectedly, and within three years, Naldi would retire from the screen. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Bebe Daniels never let her public or her studio down. In Daring Youth, Daniels delivers her usual sprightly performance as the free-thinking wife of Norman Kerry. Entering into marriage on the understanding that she will be given unbridled freedom to do what she wants with whom she wants, Daniels sorely taxes the patience of poor Kerry. But he's certain that she'll get over her hubris and settle down to become a proper housewife-which, after several comic escapades, she does. Daring Youth was directed by William Beaudine, long before he became entrenched as the King of Poverty Row. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A young and still inexperienced Norma Shearer was originally cast in the lead role of Myra Hastings in this society drama -- it was her first film for Metro, and Irving Thalberg, vice president and Louis B. Mayer's right hand man, had high hopes for her. But director John M. Stahl didn't see much potential in Shearer and insisted that contract player and former Mack Sennett star Marie Prevost take the role of Myra. Shearer was demoted to a supporting role. The story was trite, so the future MGM star (who eventually married Thalberg) didn't miss much by losing the lead. Myra is the maid in a wealthy home who dreams of the better things in life. One day while she is secretly trying on her mistress's gowns she is discovered by Elliot, the Worthington scion (Robert Ellis). He falls in love with her, but she is fired. The headstrong Elliot marries her and brings her back home, much to his family's chagrin. They promptly snub poor Myra, who runs away. Elliot goes after her and saves her from being hit by a train. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This farce was based on the musical comedy by Otto A. Harbach and Louis A. Hirsch, which was adapted from the play The Aviator by James H. Montgomery. Douglas MacLean -- who was especially good at farce comedy -- plays the lead, Robert Street. Street is an author whose novel about aviation, Going Up, is a best seller. The only catch is that he has a horror of flying and the one time he was in a plane, he swore never to fly again. But when he escapes to a summer resort, he finds that everyone there knows his name thanks to his pal, Hopkinson Brown (Hallam Cooley). He decides to leave, but then he meets and falls in love with Grace Douglas (Marjorie Daw). Not only does she convince him to stay, but she inspires his courage -- and he needs a lot of that because his romantic rival, Jules Gaillard (Francis McDonald), is the best aviator in France. Gaillard has dared him into competing, and in spite of all of Steele's efforts --and those of his friends -- he has no choice but to take flight. In spite of everything, Street is a complete success in the air, and back on the ground he wins Grace's heart. A very boyish looking Mervyn Leroy -- many years away from his fame as a director -- had a bit part as a bellboy. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Billed "Charles Jones" for the occasion, Fox cowboy Buck Jones found himself on Broadway in this silent melodrama. He played Bill Moreland, a cowboy who befriends a stranded chorus girl, Janet Ainslee (Fritzi Brunette). Bill sells his prize dogs to pay Janet's way back to New York and, in love with the girl, follows her to Manhattan where he obtains a job as a construction worker. When Janet finds herself in the clutches of a typically lecherous theatrical producer (James Mason), the cowboy comes to her rescue once again and easily persuades her to return with him to the West. Almost every silent screen cowboy landed on Broadway at one time or another (or at least in unfamiliar surroundings in the big city), including William Fairbanks (Broadway Buckaroo, 1921), Hoot Gibson (Broadway or Bust, 1924), and Tom Mix (The Big Diamond Robbery, 1929). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Marie Prevost got her start as a Mack Sennett bathing beauty, and even though this romantic comedy runs rather short for a feature, it's still only got about enough plot for a two-reeler. Spunky Constance Keener (Prevost) and her mother (Lillian Langdon) don't see eye to eye on matters of romance. Mrs. Keener has chosen rich Merton Torrey (J. Frank Glendon) to marry her daughter, who doesn't think he's dashing enough for her. When she attends a masquerade ball and is kissed by a costumed stranger, she thinks he's the one she wants. So she elopes with Dr. Sherman Moss (Lloyd Whitlock), who she believes is the stranger. But on the way to their honeymoon, he kisses her and she realizes he's the wrong man. The train gets held up by a bandit who apparently has only one purpose -- to tear up Moss's marriage license and to kidnap Constance. The bandit turns out to be Torrey -- the same man who kissed her at the ball. Since he's a lot more dashing than she originally thought (not to mention such a good kisser), the end is easily imagined. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Even though this light comedy never leaves the confines of its hospital setting, it's still highly amusing. Billy Grant (Richard Dix) winds up in the hospital after going on a wild spree when his fiancée breaks up with him. Jane Brown (Helene Chadwick) is his nurse, and he begs her to marry him. She agrees because she believes that he is dying. The truth is that Grant has married her just to get back at his relatives, who helped ruin his relationship with his fiancée. Jane asks to be transferred to the maternity ward, and she helps a newborn baby and its mother reunite with its father. While searching for the man, however, Jane breaks some hospital rules and she's in danger of being fired. Grant comes to her aid and also claims her as his wife. This picture was based on two stories by author Mary Roberts Rinehart. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Sessue Hayakawa wrote the story for this simple little drama. Wang (Hayakawa) is a Chinese vegetable peddler in the slum area of a big city. He befriends a little boy, Buster (Frankie Lee), and meets the boy's mother, Mary (Bessie Love). Mary has been deserted by her no-good husband, and when Wang finds out that she and Buster are about to be evicted, he pawns his horse, Bimbo, to help them. Without his horse, Wang needs to find other employment, so he becomes a fortune teller. Buster helps out by hiding under the table and peeking into the customers' wallets to ensure that the fortunes are accurate. A new rent collector, Johnny Rand (Ralph McCullough), proves to be Mary's childhood sweetheart, who still carries a torch for her. She discovers that her estranged husband, Spencer Wellington (Harland Tucker), is about to marry Norma Biddle (Janice Wilson). Wang -- and Buster -- are hired as the entertainment for Norma's engagement party. They reveal Wellington's past, and his marriage, so Norma breaks off the engagement. Then Mary proceeds to get a divorce so that she and Rand can marry. Wang gets his horse out of hock, and goes to the Orient to fetch the girl who has been waiting for him all along. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

When Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith formed United Artists, they had a dilemma -- only one of them was contractually free to make a film for the fledgling studio -- and that was Fairbanks. But he came through with this winning picture, playing his usual character (at least for his pre-swashbuckling days) -- a young man with too much energy and vigor for his own good -- in a Prisoner of Zenda-like backdrop. William Brooks (Fairbanks) lives in Manhattan on a mysterious but sizable income. He apparently has no family either. When following the New York Fire Department around begins to pall, he goes to Mexico and tangles with bandits. All this is only preparation for his next adventure -- he is called to a tiny European country where a revolution is going on. It turns out that he is heir to the throne and he manages to squelch the plotters and win the girl (Marjorie Daw) in short order. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This first of several cinematic adaptations of the Jean Webster play Daddy Long Legs stars "America's Sweetheart," Mary Pickford. The oldest and cutest of a group of orphans, Pickford is provided with funds for her education and well-being by a mysterious benefactor, whom she knows only as "Daddy Long Legs" because of the spider-like shadow he casts on the orphanage steps. Upon reaching a marriageable age, Pickford falls in love with handsome Mahlon Hamilton, never dreaming that he and Daddy Long Legs are one in the same. When he proposes marriage, she properly announces that she'll need her guardian's consent, and thus the stage is set for the film's conclusion. Like several of Mary Pickford's best silent films, Daddy Long Legs was remade in the talkie era by Shirley Temple (as 1935's Curly Top). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide